The Essential Elelments of Technology Planning

Technology planning can be the catalyst used to enhance a school’s vision for the future, to strengthen its learning goals and to help realize its mission. The technology planning process itself must weigh the relationship between technology investments and student growth to be deemed successful. Technology planning requires that schools be willing to make substantial investments in time, resources, and support. The information provided on this website will focus on the essential elements of technology planning, which will include: (a) how to establish a vision statement (b) how to assess the schools technology needs to establish target area goals to improve learning, (c.) how to create effective professional development resources to increase the use of technology in the classroom, and (d.) how to support existing technological resources through funding and maintenance. The Essential Elements Technology Planning will be a guide to preparing a districts technology plan that will revitalize the mission of the school and prepare the school for 21st Century learning.

Technology Planning is a Process

Viewing technology planning as a process instead of an event requires two paradigm shifts in thinking and development. The first paradigm shift occurs when educators of the district realizes the planning process will result in more than simply purchasing technology. Ten years ago, technology planning focused primarily on acquiring computers and was simply a process of deciding what type of computers to purchase, how many, and where to place them. Today, new technology opportunities require educators to rethink the plausibility of technology in the classroom. The planning process must address how technology will be used by students and staff, not just what equipment it will involve.

The second paradigm shift occurs when the technology planning process integrates the technology into the curriculum. This paradigm shift allows the planning process to have an impact on student learning. For the technology planning efforts to have maximum effect on student learning, the process must be coupled with curriculum development. Since the goal of technology planning should be improved student learning, this process begets questions that only classroom teachers can answer. Therefore, a collaborative effort between technology committee and individual building sites can develop the most comprehensive, and successful, technology plan. Without this investment of time and effort, planning for technology will have little or no impact on school improvement.

The technology plan should be designed in a way that inspires people to share their knowledge, collaborate on their knowledge, and finally develop their knowledge into a technology paradigm shift for the future. The connected school is different in its architecture for it offers new applications where learners can share, create, and contribute to new knowledge by direct participation rather than receiving passive information.

Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology states, "We are moving away from a world in which some produce and many consume media, toward one in which everyone has a more active stake in the culture that is produced."

This concept of active participation will be the focus of this website. A focus that is built around technology planning. Information is designed in methods for providing the necessary foundations for creating learning environments where students participate in a universal learning experience. A participatory experience by which individuals utilize mobile tools as they continually access and create multidimensional patterns of explanations of the world around them.